


Traitor(s)

by TuppingLiberty



Series: Organa's Organics [2]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, BB-8 is a horse, Homophobia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-03
Updated: 2016-02-03
Packaged: 2018-05-17 23:41:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5889625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TuppingLiberty/pseuds/TuppingLiberty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which our boys continue to have a rough first 24 hours, and there is a lot of angst.  AND BB8 IS A HORSE.  Lawstudent!Finn and farmer!Poe. CW: mention of 9/11, Afghan war</p>
            </blockquote>





	Traitor(s)

**Author's Note:**

> I am neither a farmer or a lawyer, so if I get any details wrong, sorry!  
> Ben/Poe are developing a kind of reverse Darcy/Wickham rivalry in my mind, or maybe what Pride and Prejudice would have been like if Wickham’s stories of Darcy being jealous had actually been true.

When Finn awoke the next morning, Poe had already left the cottage, a fact which Finn used to poke around Poe’s place a bit.  As a future lawyer, he justified this by telling himself he was just double checking that Poe wasn’t an axe murderer. What he found was a surprising lack of personal items.  He inspected a framed photograph of what must be a tiny Poe (the curls being a dead giveaway) between two adults, smiling happily but looking worn down.  Finn couldn’t identify the rural background, and remembered Poe talking about moving a lot as a kid.  He also found a guitar case sitting next to the beat up couch, and damn if _that_ didn’t just pique his interest in Poe more. _Sweet, sexy, and a musician?  Give me a fucking break_.  In the kitchen, Finn saw that Poe left him a note and a granola bar.

_Finn - sorry, this is what I normally grab before heading out in the morning.  But feel free to poke through my cupboards if this isn’t enough. - Poe_

_Considerate, too, but I knew that already._ Finn dashed off a quick text to Rey.

 **Finn:** Still alive.  No need to send in the cavalry. So, the guy? His name is Poe.  And I’ve yet to find a sign he’s not fucking perfect.

 **Rey:** Star eyes already?  Be careful, trooper.

        Finn knew Rey used the old nickname from military school to soften the blow of her concern.

 **Finn:** I’ll be fine.

 Finn heard a noise out front and grabbed the granola bar, heading outside. He was definitely not prepared for the sight that greeted him: a fresh, happy Poe seated atop a horse with white and brown markings and a black and white mane. An incredibly indecent picture of a fresh, happy Poe seated atop Finn flashed through his mind, and he was glad the bright sun hid his blush.

“Hey! Good morning, buddy!” called Poe, climbing down.

 _Back to buddy,_ thought Finn, _Poe really did slow down_ .  “Hey,” he said, somewhat awkward, and shifting in his space.  He searched his mind for something brilliant to say. “What a gorgeous horse.” _Nice._

Poe looked admiringly at the horse, and Finn thought he might melt a little.  “BB-8?  Yeah, she’s gorgeous.  Aren’t you?” Poe said in that voice people reserve for babies and cute animals as he patted BB-8’s nose.  Turning back to Finn, Poe handed him a baby carrot, saying, “You want to make friends for life? Give her this.”

Nervously, Finn held out the carrot toward the horse’s mouth. “Hi, B--- BB-8, I’m Finn.”  The horse snorted happily and snuffled up the carrot from Finn’s palm, tickling Finn and causing him to snort.  Poe laughed and Finn tried to cover up the snort with a cough and a subject change.

“Why BB-8? That seems like a weird name for a horse?”

“Well,” Poe started, continuing to pat BB-8 affectionately, “technically she’s Beatrice Belle the 8th.  She’s got one of those fancy thoroughbred names that no one ever actually says out loud.  But she never was quite fast enough for racing, so we rescued her from an unhappy future and called her BB-8.  We’ve got quite a few rescues here at Organa’s.  Rescues, strays, rebels without causes.” Poe seemed to direct the last part at Finn, who grinned.

“Hey, I had plenty of cause to leave First Order.  That’s not the kind of lawyer I want to be.” The statement made him pause and reassess. “That’s not the kind of person I want to be.”

“You don’t want to be a lawyer anymore?” Poe lifted his eyebrows, clearly surprised.

“I don’t know.” Finn scuffled his foot through the dirt, kicking at nothing.  “It’s just, last night, I was thinking about what I told you at Maz’s. I feel like I haven’t had a chance to really sit down and think about what I want to do.  It’s just been a steady process - step A, step B, step C.  No stopping this rolling train that is my life.”

“Christ, sometimes you make me feel really old.” Poe rubbed a hand on his neck, and Finn worried even further about this new slowness and distance between them.  “When does school start again?”

“About two and a half months. End of August.”

“Well, then, let me amend what I said previously.  Here at Organa’s, we’ve got rescues, strays, rebels without causes, and _quarter-life crisis-havers_.  You’re welcome to stay if you agree to pull your weight around the farm.”

 _Or maybe it’s not all bad news._ “I could do that.  I could definitely do that.”

“Great, I’ll start by giving you a tour of the farm.  I know you saw some yesterday, but with the amount of running around we did, I doubt you got a great idea of what we look like.”

“Sure.” Finn glanced nervously at BB-8.  “Are we, um, are we going to ride her?”

Poe shook his head. “No, we’d be too heavy together.  I’m getting from the hesitation in your voice that you don’t ride?” A head shake from Finn. “I didn’t think so.  We can take the Gator around instead.  Let me just put BB in the pasture.”  Poe grabbed BB-8’s reins and led her through a gate, then unsaddled her, gave her a quick wipedown and let her free to munch the grass.  Finn happily watched Poe do his work while munching on his own granola bar.

“Okay, let’s get the lay of the land,” Poe said, grabbing ahold of Finn’s hand and causing Finn’s heart to skip a beat.

Still, Finn hesitated. “Wait, how old are you?”

\-------------

The tour took most of the morning, as Finn remet the workers he had been introduced to at the potluck the night before. Now, Poe was introducing him as a new summer hand, but Finn noticed that that didn’t stop the speculation in their eyes.  Towards noon, Poe pulled the 4-wheeler up a row of a purple plants, _lavender, Poe had called them,_ and the hops field that Finn had seen the day before.  In the distance, he could see what must be the brewery, doors and windows shuttered.

“This is the edge of the Organa property.  A few years ago, we would have been able to cross this border, and both farms shared workers.  Organic was Leia’s dream, the brewery was Mr. Solo’s, and while they had a strange partnership, they loved each other and it worked.  It really did work.  Mr. Solo’s greatest dream was for his son to continue, expand the brewery, really make it something spectacular for the area.  Nothing’s hotter in Oregon than microbrew.   _Organic_ microbrew? Seemed ideal. But now Ben wants to sell to a mega-farm, and it’ll be like losing the protection of a friendly neighbor.” Poe’s sigh was heavy.

“Not to mention losing a legacy,” Finn added quietly.

“That’s what Mr. Solo wanted, his legacy to live on.”

“Do you know him?  Ben-the-bastard?”

“Yeah. My parents worked Organa’s for most of the spring/summer fruit harvest season, so Ben and I spent a lot of free summer time together around this place.  You know how teens rebel against conservative parents by getting piercings and dying their hair black and dating the most likely person to piss them off?  It’s like Ben’s the opposite.  Raised by hippies, so he was a Future Business Leader of America, wore pressed slacks to school and carried a briefcase for God’s sake.  Started going to Pastor Snoke’s church in high school.  When she found out, I thought Leia was going to die of embarrassment.  She’s not really one for organized religion.  More like “being one with the universe” and “feeling the universe flow in and out of you.” God love her.  And yes, I’m aware of the irony of that little statement, but my own mama raised me Catholic. She was always convinced the Church would come around on homosexuality. Too bad she didn't live to see Pope Francis.” Poe hopped out of the Gator to inspect a stalk of lavender and idly pull a weed.

“Snoke put a lot of ideas in his head about how he couldn’t be friends with a homo.  Ben came back to the farm one Sunday with a “Yes on 9” sticker and that was really the end of our friendship.  I haven’t actually talked to him in years.”

“Yes on 9?”

Poe waved a hand away.  “Forgot.  Not from here.  Measure 9 was a bill that would have forbidden public schools from talking about homosexuality, at all.  Anyway, it wasn’t just that.  This whole thing with the brewery.  Here’s something his father built up over the years, land yes, but a legacy.  My parents left nothing when they passed, except me and memories.  And I was grateful for that.  I -” Poe hesitated, looking at Finn as he climbed back in the gator.  “I wish I had something like that to hold onto, to keep building, from them.  Instead I’ll probably end up like Mr. Solo. My legacy will be planting seeds in gardens I’ll never get to see.” Poe’s face was so serious, and Finn’s heart had been so caught up in the story of his parents,  that at first Finn didn’t quite catch the line.

“ **_Poe Dameron._ **  Did you seriously just try to pass off a line from _Hamilton_ as one of your own?” Finn’s arms had actually crossed over his chest involuntarily and he huffed.

Poe’s face remained serious for about five more seconds, before the smile broke and he burst out laughing.  “You should see your face right now.” Poe mockingly crossed his arms over his chest, too. “Grr, I’m Finn.” Finn raised an eyebrow, then shoulder checked him in the seat of the Gator. “Ohhh, ah, okay, okay.  Yes, I was hoping I was smooth enough to get that by you.  But I can see that I’ll have to plagiarize something different to impress you.  Besides, it’s kind of a requirement for me to love Lin-Manuel Miranda.  We sons of immigrants have to stick together.”  Finn noticed there was a certain heat in Poe’s eyes as he looked at Finn’s crossed arms.  

 _Okay, am I dreaming or does he have a thing for my arms?_ Finn subconsciously flexed his biceps, and Poe’s eyes met his, twinkling.

“Tease,” Poe accused without heat.

 _Okay, mark that down for “Yes.”_  

\-------------

Lunch consisted of slapped-together meat sandwiches back at the cabin.  Finn enjoyed moving around Poe in the kitchen like they were choreographed dancers, except sometimes when he zigged, he swore Poe intentionally zagged and ‘accidentally’ crowded his space.  The man was confusing, for sure.  Distant this morning but getting closer and closer again as the day went on.   _Is he waiting for me to make a move?_

After lunch, Poe put Finn to work in the market building, cleaning up the previous day’s mess and getting it ready for next week.  A graduate of a military boarding school, Finn was used to using his body, but it was more in the form of drills and marches.  Now, as he and two other members of the team moved around the building carting bins and breaking down boxes, Finn realized he was having fun working up a sweat, because the work had a point.  It wasn’t just the same mind numbing set of exercises over and over again.  And, he got to chat with his companions, Snap and Elisa.  He tried to pull information about Poe subtly out of them, but he was just not as good at that trick as Poe himself, and they teased him mercilessly.   _The problem with training to be a lawyer,_ he thought, _is that they teach you to ask direct questions, not subtle ones._ Still, it was good to have new people to interact with, and they welcomed him.  

He was having such a good time in the market building that he almost didn’t notice the car pull up outside, but he did hear Poe’s voice shout for Leia.  Curious, he poked his head out to see a fancy black sedan sitting in the parking lot.  The driver’s side door opened to reveal the receptionist from First Order.   _Uh oh._ Finn walked out of the building to confront the young woman.  Out of the corner of his eye, he also saw Poe and Leia walking briskly to the car.

“Cindy.  How’d you get out of the office?  I thought you were chained to that desk.”

“Promotion.  Seems like there was a job opening further up.   _Traitor_.”

Beside him, Finn felt Poe tense, as if for action.  Finn put his hand on Poe’s arm in a calming action without even realizing he was doing it. “What did they send you to say, Cindy?”

Cindy handed over the file folder she had been carrying to Finn.  “Your … _clients_ … have three days to accept this offer.  If they don’t, the sale goes forward.  You can see us in court.”  Before Finn could respond, she was back in the car and driving away, kicking up a cloud of dust in their faces.

Finn opened the folder, concentrating.  

“Maybe we should have a meeting in the main house,” Leia suggested, and they all started moving that direction.

It took little time for Finn to figure out the legalese in the documents Cindy had handed him. _Top of my class,_ Finn thought acerbically.  Leia had led them to the kitchen table, and now Finn faced the two others and explained as best he could. “So basically, this is a bluff and a scare tactic.  They want you to agree to a settlement to allow Ben to break the rules of the will.  I’m guessing they didn’t figure on me being here, being able to interpret this for you.”  Leia and Poe looked relieved, and Finn hesitated before going on, not wanting to break that momentary happiness. “If you refuse, the sale can’t go through without a legal battle in court.  That could take years, Leia, and it will certainly take money.  First Order never gives up.  They will just keep fighting and appealing.  When everything’s done, even if you win, you might not have enough to keep both places open.  If you lose, you might lose Organa’s Organics along with the brewery.”  Finn pushed the folder of papers toward Leia, and Poe reached out to grab his hand.

“What can we do, Finn?”  Finn hated that Poe was asking him, a law student, so earnestly.

“Honestly?  You guys need to get a lawyer.  A good one.  One that’s actually finished law school.”  Finn blew out a frustrated breath.  “I mean, I certainly can’t represent you in court, I haven’t even taken the bar.  I don’t even know if I _want to be_ a lawyer right now.”

A hesitant Leia. “Do you...do you happen to know anyone who could?”

“Actually...I might know someone.  She’s from Sante Fe, but she hates First Order so she might just fly out to wrangle with this. Jessika Pava. Jess. I knew her when I was an undergrad.  Let me make some phone calls.”

Both Leia and Poe smiled, now, and Poe raised Finn’s captured hand to give it a kiss.  Finn smiled back.

As Finn turned away to start the calls, he swore he heard Leia say, “Get your head out of your ass, boy.  When you know it, you know it.”

\-------------

At dinner, Snap brought in tacos from town, and the three men ate outside the cottage in the nice June air.  Snap and Finn found they had a mutual admiration for baseball, except Snap was a Mariners fan and Finn was a Diamondbacks fan and so they had to argue good naturedly about the season.  For the most part, Poe stayed quiet.  It wasn’t like Finn had known him long enough to know whether that was normal, but it still felt like something was off.  Poe was being distant again, and even though Finn knew in his brain that it was probably best to take it slow, his heart just wanted him to jump the guy.

When Snap left, Poe also stood, saying, “I’m going to take a shower, then head to bed.  More farm life tomorrow.”

“Poe,” Finn called, rising from the ground. “I know… I know we said last night to take it slow, but...have I done something wrong?” Finn’s hands twisted together vulnerably.

“Oh, Finn. No. God, you’re awesome.” Poe rubbed his neck. “It’s fast, and you’re young, and…” He trailed off, leaving Finn thinking he didn’t really have a good third reason.

Carefully and steadily, eyes never leaving Poe’s, Finn walked to the older man until he was as close as they’d been last night. “Slow doesn’t mean stop.  And I’m not really that young.  And…?” The question hung in the air, and Finn decided he didn’t want to leave the opening.  He gathered Poe’s hands and leaned in, hoping Poe would meet him halfway.  He didn’t have to wait long, as Poe’s mouth crashed into his, making a sound of desperation in his throat. _Victory!_ Finn thought, but apparently prematurely, as Poe pulled away.

He had a smile on his face though, as he said, “Goodnight babe,” and walked to the bathroom.

 _Jesus Christ, where does the man get his patience? I need help._ As if reading his mind, a message from Rey dinged on his phone.

 **Rey:** What is it about Oregon?  Now Jess is headed there too?  Am I going to have to come out there?

 **Finn:** She’s not headed out until later in the month. Hey, you’re an independent lady… If you’re feeling the call to follow a certain someone…

 **Rey:** Shut it.  Get anywhere with YOUR love life, mister?

 **Finn:** I think it would be appropriate to just send you the video for Hot ‘N Cold.

 **Rey:** Ouch.  Hang in there.  You’re coming back to me in August, right?

       Finn’s fingers automatically typed out the answer, but his heart was holding him back from hitting send.

 **Finn:** Right.

\-------------

It was after midnight when Finn woke and heard the soft music coming from the cottage’s tiny living/dining room.  Forever a desert child, and cold, he wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and walked out to the sounds.

Poe was seated on the couch, head down the way Finn had first seen him in the waiting room, but this time hunched over an acoustic guitar, picking out a melody and humming.  Finn wasn’t sure if Poe would have ever noticed him if he hadn’t accidentally stubbed his toe in the soft light. “Damn.”  And Poe snapped his head up and Finn saw that Poe had unfallen tears glistening in his eyes.  Finn took a sudden inward breath.  “Poe?” He calmly walked over to sit by the man, because he had an instinct that calmness was needed right now.  “Keep playing.  I like listening.” Finn leaned into Poe’s side, seeking the warmth, and after a moment’s hesitation, Poe continued the song.  It was nothing Finn recognized; it might not have even been something Poe recognized.  Slowly, Finn felt Poe’s breaths start to coincide with his, felt the older man relaxing into his side, too.  When Poe set the guitar aside, Finn wrapped his arms around him and pulled him into a lying position, face to face. “Can you tell me about it?”  Finn brushed one hand through Poe’s curls as Poe contemplated the question.

“I’ve got a lot of baggage.  That’s what I didn’t say earlier.”

Finn felt like maybe he could have said a lot of things, but he didn’t.

“I didn’t protect you today.”

Whatever Finn had been expecting, this wasn’t it, and he quirked an eyebrow, waiting.

“That... _woman…_ ” Poe sounded like he wanted to call her something else. “...she called you a traitor, and I didn’t protect you.”  Finn reached out to touch Poe’s cheek.  “And that’s what I mean by baggage.  Because it probably wasn’t that big of a deal to you, but that word...holds a lot of power over me. You went to a military school so I’m sure you dealt with some of the same crap I dealt with for being gay.  But even 9 years later makes a big difference, I think.  I went to a bunch of different high schools, being the kid of migrant workers. All in rural towns, where they may not beat you up anymore but they’d like it if you just kept your lifestyle to yourself.  I barely graduated and it seemed like my options were either work the fields with my parents or join the military.  Then, 9/11 happened and that decided it for me.  As soon as I graduated, I was off to basic training.  This was in the time of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, mind, so I was jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Even though my grades sucked, my test scores showed an aptitude for charisma, and I was trained to go under deep cover.”

“Like James Bond?” Finn asked, hoping to pull a smile out of Poe, and succeeding.

“Heh.  Not quite.  More like, I developed relationships with villagers and sought intel.  I was really good at it, but I have to say, I fucking hate the desert.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not offended.”

“It’s so hard to deny a huge part of your life, especially in war, when there’s this urgency to…” He faltered for the first time. “to find someone you can hold onto, and hold on tight, because tomorrow you might get taken out, or get your cover blown.  I knew a few others like me, and everyone had heard the rumors of discharges for homosexual behavior, but I was young, younger than you, and thought maybe I could get away with it.  I was glad to be helping my country, yeah?  I was a really good little soldier boy.” Finn squeezed him.  “But, we got caught.  I don’t think it was my fellow squadron members that turned me in.  Hell, you’ve met Snap.  I don’t think he would do it.  But somehow they found out, and there I am, being sent home with a “less than honorable” discharge.  And people wondered why I got it, and they speculated that I had done something cowardly or betrayed the country…” He let Finn make the connection back to the word traitor.  “And it’s not like I can just go around hitting city chicks, people kind of frown on that, so I just felt...useless."

  
Finn wrapped his arms around Poe even more, trying to envelope him as much as possible, and rooted his head under Poe’s until they were lying cheek to cheek, and Finn could whisper directly in his ear. “Poe. I’m so fucking proud of you.”  Finn placed a kiss on Poe’s neck.  Poe’s breath hitched and Finn felt a single drop hit his face as Poe released the only tear he would let go. “Poe. You’re not useless.” Kiss.  “You didn’t betray your country.” Kiss. “ And you.” Kiss.  “You are fucking amazing.” As Finn leaned in to place the last kiss, Poe readjusted so their lips were sliding together instead. Finn moved a hand down to link with one of Poe’s, and closed his eyes.  He waited to hear the slow breaths of a sleeping Poe, then followed him.

**Author's Note:**

> I probably won't ever get into it in a fic, but my head canon for why Poe calls Leia by her name (or "The General") and Han by "Mr. Solo" is that Poe's father always taught him that the boss man deserves the respect of a title. Poe's mother tended to glare at his father when he said this type of thing, but it stuck with Poe.
> 
> Since I never actually say in the fic, Poe is 32 and Finn is 23.
> 
> John Boyega has beautiful arms. Kudos to tumblr for many inspiring gif sets.
> 
> As always, thank you for any comments, criticism, corrections or suggestions.
> 
> If you want, you can add me on tumblr. I mostly post about Stormpilot and Hamilton, with some education and history stuff thrown in too. http://animalasaysrauer.tumblr.com/


End file.
